Nathan Jones

[bpsaint]

1 hour ago, Pamplemousse said:

If we don't win any of our next few (winnable opponents) I can very easily see the atmosphere turning very nasty and the board having no option but to act

 

The boos and empty seats were very notable. The board aren't stupid.

Unfortunately Pample I get the point you’re trying to make, but I have to say I can’t see our fans doing fuck all about it anymore to be honest. Those days of the Branfoot era protests, Askham protests, Swing Lowe songs etc and the us against the world mentality are long gone. We’ve been served up such a load of shite at home for years now that St Mary’s has become a soulless bowl, full of apathetic ‘customers’ going through the motions, a sterile happy clappy social media driven match day “experience” free from intimidation for home and away fans alike. 

Closure of block 1, giving away fans more tickets than we have to, particularly for cup games, the kingsland “premium” section and the lack of action over away fans in the home end to name a few things show us what the club think of the old school vociferous support of previous relegation battles and protests during the bad times. The club couldn’t give a fuck about some visible empty seats and some boos at full time as they know that’s as bad as it’s going to get.

A few of the happy clappy posts on here aimed at fans that are criticising the appointment of Jones are as idiotic as they are laughable. Most of us had question marks about him right from the off as his cv didn’t exactly set the world alight, and we remember all too well the story of Steve Wigley and how costly that was. If we went down to a battling 2-1 defeat today things wouldn’t seem too bad, but it’s the manner of defeat, and the opposition, that has convinced me Jones is way out of his league. He’s had weeks with this team to create a bit of identity and breathe new life into the side, yet we somehow look worse than before he took over.
 

I’m at a complete loss as to why the squad were given 2 weeks off at the start of the World Cup break when they should have been grafting away on double training sessions Poch style working on their fitness. Why did we even go to Spain anyway, that’s another clusterfuck given they were meant to be going to sunny Miami but ended up spending a week in pisswet Spain, could have just stayed in the UK for that.

I stand by my belief that Jones will be gone by march, at which point it’ll be far too late to save ourselves.

Edited 27 December, 2022 by bpsaint

[Roo1976]

3 hours ago, Dman said:

Because Rasmus Ankerson thinks he can re-invent football with his quirky, hipster ways of working. 
 

It turns out you can’t. 

not looking that way atm...................

 

13 minutes ago, Dangerspoon said:

He had six weeks to get a new system together.

He had six weeks to get to know who were the best players

Six weeks to keep fitness levels strong.

Six weeks to motivate the players

He failed on all.

Atrocious performance and only marginally better than Lincoln. We lose against Forest and we need him gone. Knee jerk I know. An experienced manager required. If not possible, just bring in Adkins. The fan love him so that’ll give them a bit of a boost and at least he’s been watching us regularly enough this season to know who our better players are!

love Adkins.....................

[MAY-Z]

24 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

I attribute a fair portion of the blame to the fans that wanted Ralph sacked frankly. The entitlement behind that thinking, and the toxic atmosphere that was generated by those fans, has led us directly to here. Nothing can change it now, but some need to consider that before having another tantrum over Jones...

After all, those fans have got what they wanted, and how many times were we assured on here that we couldn't hire someone worse than Ralph... 

with that weird attitude I would think almost the entire blame should lay at the tossers who kept a clearly past it Ralph in the job for so much longer than he should’ve been

Edited 27 December, 2022 by MAY-Z

[Disco Stu]

28 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

I attribute a fair portion of the blame to the fans that wanted Ralph sacked frankly. The entitlement behind that thinking, and the toxic atmosphere that was generated by those fans, has led us directly to here. Nothing can change it now, but some need to consider that before having another tantrum over Jones...

After all, those fans have got what they wanted, and how many times were we assured on here that we couldn't hire someone worse than Ralph... 

Ralph should have gone at the end of last season.

[Kermitzasaint]

9 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

We were never going to do that though, that's why we should have just stuck imo. 

Ralph had to go. He should have been sacked a year earlier. Its Sport Republics responsibility to replace him with a quality replacement though. 

[skintsaint]

2.5 games...amazing. Time to leave the main board for a while 😅

[Smirking_Saint]

4 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

We’ve been like it for the past year. Ralph had all preseason and we looked a fucking shambles. 

Arguably we had more direction/identity then we did today

5 formation changes and a team of which half of it looked like it wanted to press/half didn’t… Brighton were very good but make no mistake we were an absolute mess

You need to question why the players were allowed 2 weeks off and what exactly NJ has been working on the last 6 weeks because we look even less tactically aware than previous 

On paper this was an underwhelming and bizarre appointment and I see nothing to change my mind… Ralph was a good manager that was deservedly sacked because he had lost his way… I don’t see how a progressive (apparently) owner like us looks at NJ for 6 months over the likes of De Zerbi or Tadesco etc… its baffling….. He wasn’t even that cheap !!

[Smirking_Saint]

2 hours ago, Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd said:

I said he was shit when he was appointed and was slated for not getting behind the team.

I've seen a lot of Luton. Enough to tell me that all he had there was fighting spirit, which isn't enough at this level. His tactics were non-existent. 

How somebody at Southampton thought that he was a suitable replacement for Ralph is unbelievable. They clearly never watched a single game that he managed. I can only assume they looked at the results on a piece of paper and said "he's done ok on a limited budget. He's got a bit of fight in him. Get him in".

His chest thumping and shouting might work in the Championship but it's not for the Premiership. 

I despise the bloke. Have done since his first tenure at Luton. He's a Charlatan. Most of my Luton supporting Mates didn't want him back after he was sacked by Stoke and every one of them thinks he'll take Saints down. 

Nathan Jones is all about one thing... Himself. I know for a fact that our players think he's an idiot. One of our loan players, who shall remain nameless, was heard saying to another player after Jones' first training session "What the fuck is this guy all about?"

I can't bear to see this wanker ruining the team. 

Unfortunately spot on

[Dark Munster]

3 hours ago, Saint86 said:

I attribute a fair portion of the blame to the fans that wanted Ralph sacked frankly. The entitlement behind that thinking, and the toxic atmosphere that was generated by those fans, has led us directly to here. Nothing can change it now, but some need to consider that before having another tantrum over Jones...

After all, those fans have got what they wanted, and how many times were we assured on here that we couldn't hire someone worse than Ralph... 

Sacking Ralph wasn't the problem. The mistake was replacing him with Steve Wigley II.

[Killers Knee]

I can see a way out of this mess but it would involve investment, balls and humility.

we could hire Poch as a consultant for the rest of the season to literally reach Jones and his coaches what to do.  
He would order Jones to execute his instructions in training and on match days until the end of season.

This could save our season, be within our existing budget and provide a stable base for future growth.

could we tempt Poch?

Edited 27 December, 2022 by Killers Knee

[Miltonaggro]

5 hours ago, DonnieD said:

Did he mention God in the post-game interview today? Maybe God just doesn’t like Saints.

I lot of Saints supporters have been mentioning ‘Jesus Christ’ a great deal, ever since NJ was appointed.

[sisi1992]

Tbh if the next 4/5 games go as disastrously as yesterday did then I think the board will act

[Fitzhugh Fella]

This is going to sound utterly bonkers but clearly something has to be done before it’s too late. 
Place Jones on 6 months gardening leave. 
Bring in Sean Dyche on a short term contract for 6 months. 
Sign Woods (Dyche might be able to persuade him to come on a short term loan). Also try and sign someone who could show leadership on the pitch. 
if we still go down at least we would have tried something radical and gone down fighting. 
Back in the Championship reappoint Jones as he knows his way around that League and could still do a decent job for us. His appointment smacks of the Lowe and Wigley era. It was unfair to appoint Wigley back then as he didn’t even want the job and it was unfair to appoint Jones in November with the club in such a mess because Ralph hadn’t been sacked in the summer. SR need to be brave and act now. 

[Sarisbury Saint]

11 minutes ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

This is going to sound utterly bonkers but clearly something has to be done before it’s too late. 
Place Jones on 6 months gardening leave. 
Bring in Sean Dyche on a short term contract for 6 months. 
Sign Woods (Dyche might be able to persuade him to come on a short term loan). Also try and sign someone who could show leadership on the pitch. 
if we still go down at least we would have tried something radical and gone down fighting. 
Back in the Championship reappoint Jones as he knows his way around that League and could still do a decent job for us. His appointment smacks of the Lowe and Wigley era. It was unfair to appoint Wigley back then as he didn’t even want the job and it was unfair to appoint Jones in November with the club in such a mess because Ralph hadn’t been sacked in the summer. SR need to be brave and act now. 

You’re right, that is bonkers. But SR are bonkers also.

[CB Fry]

7 hours ago, woodsaint1 said:

I want him to keep us up like any Saints fan would. Check the thread.

So do I. And that was why SR gave him the job to keep us up and build to mid table Prem. SR's plan, not "entitlement from fans" like you try and make out. The SR plan.

If he fails at the first hurdle and we go down, he will be sacked. Relegation will not be the starting point of the glorious Nathan Jones era built over multiple transfer windows like you think it will. He'll be sacked sacked sacked and gone. 

Hate to break your heart but there you go. 

Edited 27 December, 2022 by CB Fry

[benjii]

8 hours ago, bennyev said:

A good coach would be able to take that group of players. Work out a system that they could play and implement it (Potter at Brighton). Or bring their own style and train the players to do it like Poch did. 
 

We may still struggle to score goals, or make a mistake or two due to players still learning the system. But we would have seen a method. 

And by creating a style of play the team would gain confidence and stop making stupid mistakes like forgetting to mark or track a runner. 

The England cricket team right now is a really good example of a coach with a plan making apparently shit players great. 
 

Unfortunately - and I’ll never understand why SR did it…They’ve chosen a coach with no style and who our players seem unlikely to buy into. So instead of improving we’ve slumped even further.

Exactly this. Pochettino imprinted an impressive new style on the team after having been in the job for about 3 days.

[Dangerspoon]

7 hours ago, Roo1976 said:

not looking that way atm...................

 

love Adkins.....................

Yes. The reception he got in Ralph’s last home game was clear. And he’d be cheap. I’m not talking about football on the pitch etc, I’m purely saying the fans would give him a little more time and he’d know now the best system.

 

1 hour ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

This is going to sound utterly bonkers but clearly something has to be done before it’s too late. 
Place Jones on 6 months gardening leave. 
Bring in Sean Dyche on a short term contract for 6 months. 
Sign Woods (Dyche might be able to persuade him to come on a short term loan). Also try and sign someone who could show leadership on the pitch. 
if we still go down at least we would have tried something radical and gone down fighting. 
Back in the Championship reappoint Jones as he knows his way around that League and could still do a decent job for us. His appointment smacks of the Lowe and Wigley era. It was unfair to appoint Wigley back then as he didn’t even want the job and it was unfair to appoint Jones in November with the club in such a mess because Ralph hadn’t been sacked in the summer. SR need to be brave and act now. 

Tbh having Dyche at the moment seems a far far better idea and would get my vote. Which is a shame. Needs someone to get them working. 

[Bad Wolf]

9 minutes ago, Dangerspoon said:

Yes. The reception he got in Ralph’s last home game was clear. And he’d be cheap. I’m not talking about football on the pitch etc, I’m purely saying the fans would give him a little more time and he’d know now the best system.

 

Tbh having Dyche at the moment seems a far far better idea and would get my vote. Which is a shame. Needs someone to get them working. 

What about after2 games when we decide we want Dyche out....Owen Coyle?

[egg]

1 hour ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

This is going to sound utterly bonkers but clearly something has to be done before it’s too late. 
Place Jones on 6 months gardening leave. 
Bring in Sean Dyche on a short term contract for 6 months. 
Sign Woods (Dyche might be able to persuade him to come on a short term loan). Also try and sign someone who could show leadership on the pitch. 
if we still go down at least we would have tried something radical and gone down fighting. 
Back in the Championship reappoint Jones as he knows his way around that League and could still do a decent job for us. His appointment smacks of the Lowe and Wigley era. It was unfair to appoint Wigley back then as he didn’t even want the job and it was unfair to appoint Jones in November with the club in such a mess because Ralph hadn’t been sacked in the summer. SR need to be brave and act now. 

Yep, bonkers!

 

39 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

So do I. And that was why SR gave him the job to keep us up and build to mid table Prem. SR's plan, not "entitlement from fans" like you try and make out. The SR plan.

If he fails at the first hurdle and we go down, he will be sacked. Relegation will not be the starting point of the glorious Nathan Jones era built over multiple transfer windows like you think it will. He'll be sacked sacked sacked and gone. 

Hate to break your heart but there you go. 

I'm not convinced they'll can him if we drop. They must accept that we're in serious danger of the drop, and I think they see Jones as the answer whatever happens. 

[Give it to Ron]

1 minute ago, Bad Wolf said:

What about after2 games when we decide we want Dyche out....Owen Coyle?

Fat Sam

[Crab Lungs]

I cannot help but feel every name mentioned above by my fellow posters is a better option than the one we currently have. 

it’s not NJs fault, it was a great opportunity but the madness of it all is  the ownership somehow drew a conclusion that he was the man for the job … when everyone else could see he wasn’t.

I don’t believe any of us are not seeing what they can see and it’ll prove some masterstroke somewhere down the line. It won’t.

With the atmosphere already as poor as it was, the appointment and subsequent performances have somehow managed to plough the sense of anger and resignation to all new depths… and it’ll be taken on out on NJ eventually.

This could get really sour. 
 

you can almost guarantee the club won’t act on anything until it’s demonstratively too late. As someone else said, it’ll be an admission of a mistake and if there’s one thing those nerds and weirdos arent accountable for, it’s their own f()cking metrics and statistics.

 

Edited 27 December, 2022 by Crab Lungs

[Dangerspoon]

4 minutes ago, Bad Wolf said:

What about after2 games when we decide we want Dyche out....Owen Coyle?

The lack of fight was clear. The lack of clue about tactics (he changed his system five times) was clear. Who knows what he did in six weeks.

To quote The Times: “Every Southampton player was slower to the ball, softer in the tackle, and less precise  in the many passes going astray”.

Edited 27 December, 2022 by Dangerspoon

[Mr X]

3 hours ago, Killers Knee said:

I can see a way out of this mess but it would involve investment, balls and humility.

we could hire Poch as a consultant for the rest of the season to literally reach Jones and his coaches what to do.  
He would order Jones to executen his instructions in training and on match days until the end of season.

This could save our season, be within our existing budget and provide a stable base for future growth.

could we tempt Poch?

Not quite sure what you've been smoking over Xmas but yes poch is clearly just a rent a coach for hire that will spend all his free time teaching championship managers a thing or two for a biscuit.... In the words of Nathan Jones Jesus wept 😂 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[egg]

5 hours ago, skintsaint said:

2.5 games...amazing. Time to leave the main board for a while 😅

There's nothing wrong with calling the obvious early on. There was nothing to take from yesterday as a crumb of comfort. We were less fit, less organised, played less football, were out thought and out played. It's obvious to anyone that he's out of his depth. 

[Lighthouse]

1 hour ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

This is going to sound utterly bonkers but clearly something has to be done before it’s too late. 
Place Jones on 6 months gardening leave. 
Bring in Sean Dyche on a short term contract for 6 months. 
Sign Woods (Dyche might be able to persuade him to come on a short term loan). Also try and sign someone who could show leadership on the pitch. 
if we still go down at least we would have tried something radical and gone down fighting. 
Back in the Championship reappoint Jones as he knows his way around that League and could still do a decent job for us. His appointment smacks of the Lowe and Wigley era. It was unfair to appoint Wigley back then as he didn’t even want the job and it was unfair to appoint Jones in November with the club in such a mess because Ralph hadn’t been sacked in the summer. SR need to be brave and act now. 

TBH, as utterly bonkers as you have correctly identified this as being, I would actually like to see it. For no other reason than for people to see that Dyche has nothing to offer other than ugly football and won’t improve our results at all. Get Dyche in January, re-sign Romeu and maybe the penny will drop that neither of them is the answer.

[Miltonaggro]

1 minute ago, egg said:

There's nothing wrong with calling the obvious early on. There was nothing to take from yesterday as a crumb of comfort. We were less fit, less organised, played less football, were out thought and out played. It's obvious to anyone that he's out of his depth. 

This, it’s glaring already, as tragic as that is - I actually think Nathan Jones already knows even if some of his sopporters are in denial. Lincoln out-thought, out-fought and outplayed us and should have beaten us at home, Brighton made us look like a league one side and could have done us 5-0 plus if they hadn’t taken their foot of the gas - at home, in front of a full house on Boxing Day.  Talk of Jones taking us down to bring us up again is utterly bizarre, if any business model involved voluntary destruction of its service or product status to achieve less in a three year cycle the board would be sectioned. 

[Tamesaint]

What a wonderful thread this is.

I reckon that we should have our own Manager of the Month competition. Get the fans to pick the manager each month and then sack them if they don't get this fantastic squad of players to win each match. The compo that we would be paying out would mean that we would have no transfer kitty to improve the squad but I am sure that there would be no end of potential managers queuing up. 

[austsaint]

4 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

TBH, as utterly bonkers as you have correctly identified this as being, I would actually like to see it. For no other reason than for people to see that Dyche has nothing to offer other than ugly football and won’t improve our results at all. Get Dyche in January, re-sign Romeu and maybe the penny will drop that neither of them is the answer.

You're wrong about Romeu.  He'd improve a threadbare midfield (without Lavia) immediately.    JWP has always needed good players around him to look like a Prem midfielder and his general play is exposed as mediocre without a Romeu, a Schneiderlin, Tadic, Mane etc etc.      Romeu was crucial to our well being.

[Mr X]

1 minute ago, Tamesaint said:

What a wonderful thread this is.

I reckon that we should have our own Manager of the Month competition. Get the fans to pick the manager each month and then sack them if they don't get this fantastic squad of players to win each match. The compo that we would be paying out would mean that we would have no transfer kitty to improve the squad but I am sure that there would be no end of potential managers queuing up. 

All SR had to do was get this appointment right it was obvious that after RH the next manager had so much riding on it ie our premier League survival! There's making an unpopular choice in manager for survival which we should have done (big Sam, Sean dyche etc) and then there's doing such a left field bat shit crazy choice in a manager that it alienates 90% of the fan base... Jones came from nowhere and wouldn't have been on anyone's short list both fans and pundits included.  This smacks of someone suggesting Jones and driving their idea through to the bitter end and the rest of the people being too scared or stupid to say we are making a huge mistake! There's basically a lot of guilty Muppets in charge of our club 

[CB Fry]

9 minutes ago, Tamesaint said:

What a wonderful thread this is.

I reckon that we should have our own Manager of the Month competition. Get the fans to pick the manager each month and then sack them if they don't get this fantastic squad of players to win each match. The compo that we would be paying out would mean that we would have no transfer kitty to improve the squad but I am sure that there would be no end of potential managers queuing up. 

The club made an obviously terrible appointment and that guy is proving to be obviously terrible. The fanbase who didn't want him in the first place for that reason still don't want him now he is immediately proving to be as terrible as foreseen.

I dont know how that has translated to a handful of forum know-alls that "hur hur fickle Saints fans want a different manager every month" they're so impatient and knee jerk etc etc.

Its not like Jones was greeted as a conquering hero that we all adored and straight away we've all flipped our opinion.

No one wanted this fucking guy from day dot. We don't owe him any loyalty or a second bloody thought.

So yeah, do your "Saints fans are so fickle they want a different manager every month" routine. Fill your boots. The truth is they don't. They never wanted Nathan Jones in any month, ever, in the first place.

[Miltonaggro]

12 minutes ago, Tamesaint said:

What a wonderful thread this is.

I reckon that we should have our own Manager of the Month competition. Get the fans to pick the manager each month and then sack them if they don't get this fantastic squad of players to win each match. The compo that we would be paying out would mean that we would have no transfer kitty to improve the squad but I am sure that there would be no end of potential managers queuing up. 

Alternatively possess a competent and credible board of directors. 

[woodsaint1]

1 hour ago, CB Fry said:

So do I. And that was why SR gave him the job to keep us up and build to mid table Prem. SR's plan, not "entitlement from fans" like you try and make out. The SR plan.

If he fails at the first hurdle and we go down, he will be sacked. Relegation will not be the starting point of the glorious Nathan Jones era built over multiple transfer windows like you think it will. He'll be sacked sacked sacked and gone. 

Hate to break your heart but there you go. 

Did he ride your wife? Or are you a rabid atheist? Why have you so much hate for our new manager? You've mentioned sacked four times there like it gives you some weird hard on

[austsaint]

18 minutes ago, egg said:

There's nothing wrong with calling the obvious early on. There was nothing to take from yesterday as a crumb of comfort. We were less fit, less organised, played less football, were out thought and out played. It's obvious to anyone that he's out of his depth. 

Indeed.  You could overlook many early concerns about Nathan Jones - lack of Management pedigree; nothing in his background to inspire, motivate or improve players at this level; an average looking collection of assistants he's brought along with him, but in two games he's played three centre backs against a League 1 side and yesterday played the serial disappointment Elyounoussi as a floating striker/AM; Lyanco in preference to an emerging young CB talent; resurrected Diallo into a midfield role which he has repeatedly failed at - especially along side an underperforming Ward-Prowse - and played Che Adams on his own up front.    Much as I thought Ralph had to go, what the hell were they thinking in appointing this out-of-his-depth tyro?

[egg]

17 minutes ago, austsaint said:

You're wrong about Romeu.  He'd improve a threadbare midfield (without Lavia) immediately.    JWP has always needed good players around him to look like a Prem midfielder and his general play is exposed as mediocre without a Romeu, a Schneiderlin, Tadic, Mane etc etc.      Romeu was crucial to our well being.

Yep, anyone who's watched us with Romeu, and without him, can see that we miss him and would be better of with him. SR letting him go without a replacement was negligent. 

[Saint Garrett]

14 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

I’ve said before what a lazy team we are.  Both in possession and out of it.

Brighton gave us a lesson in passing and moving today.  We were pedestrian and predictable.

We are fucking lazy, which makes me wonder why we brought in 2 of the laziest players I’ve ever seen, Aribo and AMN, they don’t ever sprint, infuriating. 

[woodsaint1]

2 minutes ago, austsaint said:

Indeed.  You could overlook many early concerns about Nathan Jones - lack of Management pedigree; nothing in his background to inspire, motivate or improve players at this level; an average looking collection of assistants he's brought along with him, but in two games he's played three centre backs against a League 1 side and yesterday played the serial disappointment Elyounoussi as a floating striker/AM; Lyanco in preference to an emerging young CB talent; resurrected Diallo into a midfield role which he has repeatedly failed at - especially along side an underperforming Ward-Prowse - and played Che Adams on his own up front.    Much as I thought Ralph had to go, what the hell were they thinking in appointing this out-of-his-depth tyro?

Ely has been one of our better players this season. Says it all really but he has warranted a start.

I'll agree with you on Lyanco, was the wrong choice with ABK and DCC available

Who else does he play in CM if you dont want him to play JWP and Diallo?

Who else does he play up front with Che given our lack of striker depth and given AA and Mara's struggles?

The fact of the matter is the squad is very limited

[Chez]

8 hours ago, Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd said:

One of our loan players, who shall remain nameless, was heard saying to another player after Jones' first training session "What the fuck is this guy all about?"

We only have one loan player, don't we?

[Bad Wolf]

44 minutes ago, Dangerspoon said:

The lack of fight was clear. The lack of clue about tactics (he changed his system five times) was clear. Who knows what he did in six weeks.

To quote The Times: “Every Southampton player was slower to the ball, softer in the tackle, and less precise  in the many passes going astray”.

And what if it's the same under Dyche?

I find it strange that Jones is being hounded for changing the system a few times when Ralph was hounded for never changing the system.

[Miltonaggro]

1 minute ago, Chez said:

We only have one loan player, don't we?

The masked singer Saints edition! 

[Billy the Kidd]

6 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

We are fucking lazy, which makes me wonder why we brought in 2 of the laziest players I’ve ever seen, Aribo and AMN, they don’t ever sprint, infuriating. 

Yep, those two in particular make Le Tissier seem like Roy Keane.

I’ve long thought i dont wish to see Diallo, Djeneppo, Ely, and AMN again in a Saints shirt.

Aribo I think has got ability, just needs to do more for 90 mins.

Im still happy to wait and see what players are coming in Jan before passing judgement. But the clouds are gathering…

[Saint86]

7 minutes ago, Chez said:

We only have one loan player, don't we?

Spotted that did you? 🤣

[egg]

5 minutes ago, Bad Wolf said:

I find it strange that Jones is being hounded for changing the system a few times when Ralph was hounded for never changing the system.

Ralph had a reasonable plan A (well initially, and then sometimes) but no ability to adapt when the opponent's changed to counter his plan A. 

Jones has a shit plan A so desperately resorted to a shit plan B, then shit plan C, then shit plan D, then shit plan E. 

That's your difference. 

[InvictaSaint]

A few thoughts on Jones’s start to his Saints tenure from a Luton forum here for consideration.

[beatlesaint]

I don’t understand why SR invested all that money in the summer, with an alleged extra 30 million had we secured a striker then they go and scrimp on the managerial appointment. 
 

I can’t think very many thought get rid of Ralph and we’ll get the Luton manager in. The expectation would have been better than we had. The appointment makes no sense at all. 

[austsaint]

1 minute ago, woodsaint1 said:

Ely has been one of our better players this season. Says it all really but he has warranted a start.

I'll agree with you on Lyanco, was the wrong choice with ABK and DCC available

Who else does he play in CM if you dont want him to play JWP and Diallo?

Who else does he play up front with Che given our lack of striker depth and given AA and Mara's struggles?

The fact of the matter is the squad is very limited

Agreed the squad is limited - yet it wasn't that long ago this side was beating Chelsea and looking like a low to middling Prem outfit.    I disagree with your assessment of Elyounoussi - he flatters to deceive; goes missing for long periods and doesn't sustain the occasional contribution. He was completely ill-suited to the AM/floating striker role he started in yesterday.  I would have expected Jones to start with Stuart Armstrong;  although Maitland-Niles was gash against Lincoln, I would have started him in central-midfield as he has shown more in that role than Diallo.    Playing a striker up front on his own has never worked for Saints in recent times - even Ings didn't play his best Football there - Broja likewise was better with a second attacker up front.

Jones deserves the early criticism and the early signs of him being a dud appointment are unmistakeable.

[Tamesaint]

28 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

The club made an obviously terrible appointment and that guy is proving to be obviously terrible. The fanbase who didn't want him in the first place for that reason still don't want him now he is immediately proving to be as terrible as foreseen.

I dont know how that has translated to a handful of forum know-alls that "hur hur fickle Saints fans want a different manager every month" they're so impatient and knee jerk etc etc.

Its not like Jones was greeted as a conquering hero that we all adored and straight away we've all flipped our opinion.

No one wanted this fucking guy from day dot. We don't owe him any loyalty or a second bloody thought.

So yeah, do your "Saints fans are so fickle they want a different manager every month" routine. Fill your boots. The truth is they don't. They never wanted Nathan Jones in any month, ever, in the first place.

So in other words you think that the fans should pick the manager ??

[Chewy]

When I saw the team v Lincoln I raised an eyebrow - starting Moi, starting AA, 3 centre backs, no Stuart Armstrong (the only creative player in our entire squad). I did wonder why a month of prep hadn’t seen us progress into something more different than the same bizarre decisions from Ralph that got us in this mess, but thought maybe the play would be improved.

It wasn’t; also the finishing remained horrible, AMN was laughably bad, attitude and body language spoke of apathy not inspiration. Walcott from the bench was our best player (!!!). It was, let’s be honest, an awful start.

So onto the first proper game, only 2 centre backs but not our best one, solving AMN by trying Diallo in a role he’s proved multiple times isn't his game, still starts with Moi, still benches Stuart, isolates Adams and adds the wildcard if Djenepo who fails as he does 70% of the time.

Both eyebrows firmly raised.

Still, onto the game … f*ck me.

2.5 games is too soon to write someone off, certainly if there’s a plan and a bedding in period. I do get that, and think a lot of people are loving the fact that their disappointment at his appointment in the first place is being vindicated so far so are making far more noise than they might ordinarily.

On the other hand, a month of bedding in a philosophy, style, attitude and we’ve ended up with the same, if not worse, in each. Bizarre team choices, playing players who’ve consistently failed in positions they’re not suited to.

Let’s be honest, I don’t think there’s one fan who would have started Moi in both, benched Stuart in both, picked Djenepo, or played Diallo in that role. We’ve seen it fail many times before- so why doesn’t he or the club know this???

On balance it does kind of feel too early, but the early signs couldn’t be any worse. He’s had time (without games of course) and it’s all still rotten. If we are rotten to the core it’s not his fault, but he’s not looking like being the cure. He was never going to get a honeymoon period - the fans are in a bad mood after 4-5 years of mostly sh1t. We need to attract players of calibre and have a board and manager incapable of doing so.  We’re playing terrible football, made worse by terrible body language. The captain is in awful form and has never been a leader. Our strikers can’t score, our one creative player sits on the bench.

You’d hope the new manager would spot and address this because every fan has and … nothing. 
It does feel too early, but this is never going to work so why waste months proving it?

[STEVEADAMS]

11 hours ago, woodsaint1 said:

Of course he was recruited to keep us up, but jesus the sense of entitlement on here after 1 PL game is embarrassing. Theres people on here who think that because we've been in the PL for the past 10 years that its a given right now. For a club of our size and stature, fighting relegation is exactly where we ought to be. The club have brought in who they think is best, not just for now but for the future, and we have to trust their judgement.

Its not about whether hes earned the right or not, any new manager needs backed to bring in the players he thinks he needs. The alternative is we keep sacking managers after a few bad results, without the chance to build a team and see where that gets us - hows Watford doing by the way?

Absolute garbage you think where we should be fighting relegation , we’re a bigger club than that. We’re something like the 12th biggest In premier league in revenue, capacity etc etc so mid table is where we should be. I think the club have said that but we’re aiming to be higher. What we is happening behind the scenes needs sorting now though and this squad need to up their game now and live up to the hype they all had.

Edited 27 December, 2022 by STEVEADAMS

[Toussaint]

9 minutes ago, Billy the Kidd said:

Yep, those two in particular make Le Tissier seem like Roy Keane.

I’ve long thought i dont wish to see Diallo, Djeneppo, Ely, and AMN again in a Saints shirt.

Aribo I think has got ability, just needs to do more for 90 mins.

Im still happy to wait and see what players are coming in Jan before passing judgement. But the clouds are gathering…

Just to bring the mood down a bit, has anyone considered some of our better players may leave in January? They can’t be enjoying this anymore than we are, some will have aspirations to move onto better things better Including international selections etc which will be seriously hampered by our current situation and seriously threatened if / when we are relegated.

[egg]

3 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

I don’t understand why SR invested all that money in the summer, with an alleged extra 30 million had we secured a striker then they go and scrimp on the managerial appointment. 
 

I can’t think very many thought get rid of Ralph and we’ll get the Luton manager in. The expectation would have been better than we had. The appointment makes no sense at all. 

Alleged indeed. Was there really money?

On topic, I personally think that Jones is someone that they thought would work. They obviously want to stay up, know we're in the shit, and chose this bloke. It's utterly delusional to expect a bloke who failed at Stoke to walk into a bottom 3 premier league team and succeed, and shows that these guys are clueless.